Mexico Travel Warning?!

[jjrichardson]

I don't know if anyone has been watching the news lately but there were some killings, particularly some on American citizens in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. The government has issued an advisory about traveling to mexico. The warning urges U.S. citizens to delay nonessential travel to parts of the states of Durango, Coahuila and Chihuahua, where Juarez is located, because of recent violent attacks

I know that Cancun isn't located near this location, but there was also 14 deaths in Acapulco recently do to the drug wars. Did anyone that just got back hear about any of this or notice anything different? My parents are calling me all worried, and I leave for Cancun this coming Friday, w/ a layover in Mexico, City. They are freaking out more about the Mexico city part.

[Sol_Gemma]

its not really relevent as i haven't been this year and i dont think my country is advising us not to go, but i did get robbed of my phone and camera last year, plus some money another night in the same holiday, there were more reports round the pool of people getting beat up by the police when they got seperated from their group too, that was my 3rd time there and the first time i had trouble so maybe watch out for that. BUT that is like any place really. U will have a good time!

[army21]

got back friday, when i was there everything seemed just fine! And I didnt hear anything most likely because I was drunk 24/7! You are good just dont go outside of the club/ hotel zone and you will have nothing to worry about! Have fun!

[ToriB]

Find a map, circle the cities listed in the recent report and see how far away they are from Cancun. Your layover is in a Secured Airport...take a deep breath and tell the parents to chill. My Dad has yet to call me to beg me to go back to Philly.... oh and a man was shot in the head in a Philly Diner this morning. Where is the warnings to stay out of the US?

[Rwizzle19134]

My Layover flight is in Monterrey, Mexico, does anyone know if that's safe because I know Coahuila is right beside it and that's one of the three states the travel warning was issued in.

[ToriB]

Are you planning on leaving the Airport? If not, what is there to worry about?

[Rwizzle19134]

We were bcause it's an overnight, and leaves in the morning, but now we might just stay in the airport

[ToriB]

Originally Posted by Rwizzle19134

We were bcause it's an overnight, and leaves in the morning, but now we might just stay in the airport

Rwizzle.. I see you are from Philly. Before moving down here, I was from Upper Darby. I know how bad the area there is, and it would be like having a payover at PHL and not wanting to leave the airport because of how bad the city of Philly is. I have been to Monterrey, my bf lived there for a few years, it's not bad at all. If your layover is long, don't stay in the airport, go to a hotel close by that has a shuttle, and get a good night sleep. No worries!!! and bring me something from WaWa PLEASE!!!!!

[Rwizzle19134]

Originally Posted by ToriB

Rwizzle.. I see you are from Philly. Before moving down here, I was from Upper Darby. I know how bad the area there is, and it would be like having a payover at PHL and not wanting to leave the airport because of how bad the city of Philly is. I have been to Monterrey, my bf lived there for a few years, it's not bad at all. If your layover is long, don't stay in the airport, go to a hotel close by that has a shuttle, and get a good night sleep. No worries!!! and bring me something from WaWa PLEASE!!!!!

Hahaha thanks for the advice, I will see what I can do, maybe I'll bring you a wrap or something lol

[ToriB]

Kind of thinking that it will be mooshy....but the thought was nice. It's the only thing I miss.

[Gringation]

Sad news both in Juarez and in Acapulco. Still, totally irrelevant in Cancun.

If there were murders in LA and Houston, would you worry about traveling to Miami?

Cancun is very far away from all that. Have fun and be safe!

[Franco27]

just to reitterate, i wouldnt worry about it, i've been all over mexico and the only trouble i ran in to was becuase i was stupidly drunk and being an obnoxious twat lol, so long as you are sensible, keep to the right areas, you'll be fine!

[Life_N_Cancun]

New Orleans is rated as the 3rd (or 4th depending on your source) most dangerous city in the world and number one in the US, but I haven't heard the State Dept warning against people going there for Mardi Gras. Several other US cities have been in the top 10 for years and years... and thats despite the United States being home to the largest prison population on the planet with more than 1 in 100 adults already incarcerated!!!

So the term HYPOCRITES comes to mind whenever I see these sorts of stories!

I'm not saying that there are not problems in the border cities of Mexico, (caused by the US's insatiable appetite for illicit drugs) but as with all things you have to keep perspective. The US news media has been fear mongering against Mexico for years now, while glossing over issues closer to home. (and the reason why Mexico is having problems... ie:America's drug habit)

PS: I am an American, but I get more and more tempted to drop my passport in the shredder everyday that I look in from the outside and see how stupid "we" act both internally and towards the rest of the world.

[V]

Well said, Life, as if, after what happened in Juarez, Americans would need to be even more alarmed!

The U.S. response should have been, "We are saddened by what has recently happened in Juarez, and will continue to stand by Mexico in its heroic struggle against the weapons, and ruthless tactics, of the narcotraffickers. We pray the the Mexican people triumph against the evil that stalks their land, and we will do all in our power to assist them in that great, and historically unprecedented effort. May God bless Mexico, and its brave people."

[kman3b18]

Originally Posted by Life_N_Cancun

New Orleans is rated as the 3rd (or 4th depending on your source) most dangerous city in the world and number one in the US, but I haven't heard the State Dept warning against people going there for Mardi Gras. Several other US cities have been in the top 10 for years and years... and thats despite the United States being home to the largest prison population on the planet with more than 1 in 100 adults already incarcerated!!!

So the term HYPOCRITES comes to mind whenever I see these sorts of stories!

I'm not saying that there are not problems in the border cities of Mexico, (caused by the US's insatiable appetite for illicit drugs) but as with all things you have to keep perspective. The US news media has been fear mongering against Mexico for years now, while glossing over issues closer to home. (and the reason why Mexico is having problems... ie:America's drug habit)

PS: I am an American, but I get more and more tempted to drop my passport in the shredder everyday that I look in from the outside and see how stupid "we" act both internally and towards the rest of the world.

Yes, the travel warnings are a little over the top, but please stop your garbage rhetoric. It is clear that you are uneducated on geopolitical issues like that of drug trafficing. Did you seriously blame 'America's drug habit' for why Mexicans traffic drugs into the US? Do you even realize how absurd this statement is?

I guess we should not blame the source that is Mexico, the extremely violent drug lords who run those areas with an iron fist, the corrupt police system and government and those individuals who illegally come across the US border to trade drugs and weapons for money.

For the sake of the United States please do rip up your passport as the US needs far fewer dopes like you casting votes.

/rant

And sorry for the derailment, but this touched a nerve.

[V]

Did you seriously blame 'America's drug habit' for why Mexicans traffic drugs into the US?

Perhaps responsibility would sound better than blame, but, yes, both those who supply and those who use constitute a part of the problem, so long as the laws remain what they are.

Every time someone pays for illegal drugs they contribute to the problem, themselves, and further enrich those who have no creed but greed.

Wise men have thought long and hard about how to break this cycle, but no consensus has been reached on how to do it. The consequences, now full blooming, of failing to come up with a better approach, in more than six decades of trying, are there for all to see.

[kman3b18]

V, that is a very null and simplistic argument. While neither stopping the source nor the consumers is an 'easy' job, it is much more realistic to stop the source rather than the spread out demand. That is economics and marketing 101. And I assure you that every country in the world has drug problems to some degree, and I would love to see a source documenting that America has a larger drug abuse problem than Mexico. I would imagine that this would be hard to find.

Also, let's not forget the lack of cooperation that the US government gets when it comes to illegal immigrants, a category which most Mexican drug trafficers belong to. The US repeatedly deports illegal immigrants back to a Mexican government which takes no responsibility and allows these people to go free; simply to illegally cross the border once again as soon as they can. The only hypocrisy, as LifeNCancun alluded to, is the fact that Mexico prosecutes illegal immigrants into their country from Belize and Guatemala to the full extent of the law, but many times fails to prosecute their own deported countrymen who illegally traveled into the US.

[V]

While neither stopping the source nor the consumers is an 'easy' job, it is much more realistic to stop the source rather than the spread out demand.

This suggests you're still operating from the paradigm I believe should be abandoned, as failed.

But, with a nice holiday coming up, better to lay aside lots of unresolved social problems for a few days, at least, don't you think? That's what I'm going to do....

[Life_N_Cancun]

Originally Posted by kman3b18

And sorry for the derailment, but this touched a nerve.

Thank you .. it was my intention to hit some nerves.

I appreciate your opinion on the matter and do not claim to be any sort of "expert" in geopolitical issues or anything else. I can only express things as I see them having lived outside of the US for sometime now. I think any American who has not had the perspective of looking in, could never really understand what I'm alluding to. I know I was clueless about such matters until moving away. I believed what the "news" told me, even believing FauxNews was "fair and balanced" (after all they reminded me every 20 seconds) I went along blissfully unaware at how ridicules some of my country's policies were compared to the rest of the world or how many problems we really had.

Originally Posted by kman3b18

I would love to see a source documenting that America has a larger drug abuse problem than Mexico. I would imagine that this would be hard to find.

Are you serious! The biggest drug problem here is alcohol, everything else is mainly just passing North. Most illicit drugs are not coming from Mexico, they are passing through to the US. The US is the largest consumer of drugs in the world, and its not remotely difficult to find that information with a simple Google search, not even including the prescription drug abuse problems.

Originally Posted by kman3b18

The only hypocrisy, as LifeNCancun alluded to, is the fact that Mexico prosecutes illegal immigrants into their country from Belize and Guatemala to the full extent of the law, but many times fails to prosecute their own deported countrymen who illegally traveled into the US.

Mexico arrests and deports "illegals" mostly at the behest of the US government, as 99% of them are on their way to the US. I'm not sure what law you think Mexicans should be charged with in Mexico after being deported. The US doesn't prosecute its citizens who are deported back to the US as there is no crime in being ejected from another country. The violation is the entrance of the US without permission, crossing back into Mexico regardless of how or why is not against the law for a Mexican.

You are more than free to disagree with me or anyone else. I bitch and moan about these things because I care. The US is F#%'d up! Mexico is F#%#'d up too! What really upsets me is that too many people just don't see it, don't care, or are totally brainwashed by the media and their politicians to ever question anything.

edit: CancunMole found THIS article that gives a perspective on the drug/violence issues.

[ToriB]

I applaud you Life....everything you just mentioned couldn't have been said any better and I agree with you 100%. A little research, sorting fact from fiction, and actually living on the outside looking in, really diminishes alot of the BS the US news has been reporting for years. Ever since I moved here, alot of my "friends" back in PA have been on a PRO USA campaign and it's really rather sickening as the US is sooooo far from the nation I once thought it was.

[GONZO]

Wait a minute. Wasnt there a 14 body count murder in Acapulco, with 4 being decapitated??? Your pissed because the US news reported on it???? It happened or didnt......No need to sensationalize that one.......

Cant remember the last time that happened anywhere in my neighborhood. And no something of that magnitude happening in the US would not be swept under the rug by the press.


Dont get me wrong I love visiting Cancun and have always felt safe there.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by GONZO

Cant remember the last time that happened anywhere in my neighborhood.

Thing is Gonzo it wasn't anywhere near our neighbourhood.

Actually, the shootings at Fort Hood Texas were about 300 miles closer to here than the kilings in Acapulco.

[ToriB]

The original poster was questioning their safety in Cancun...then it went on to airports...Nobody is saying that Mexico is safe and it seems like we have carried over this crazy topic from the thread in the Living In forum. I think the questions have been answered for the SB that are on their way down here, to Cancun, faaaaaaaar faaaaar away from areas where heads are being chopped off on a beach; where there is a drug problem that far exceeds anything you will find in Cancun.
And nobody said they were pissed the News reported that story. I am pissed that the US media has a way of making Mexico out to be the devil.

[Life_N_Cancun]

Originally Posted by GONZO

Wait a minute. Wasnt there a 14 body count murder in Acapulco, with 4 being decapitated??? Your pissed because the US news reported on it???? It happened or didnt......No need to sensationalize that one.......

No problem with reporting things, but don't care for the way they always mix video of Cancun in with the video of dead bodies. Then have "experts" come on and say "Mexico is not safe for tourists". I'll agree that the decapitations are a little sensational, but that was the whole idea, was to get attention, so the media is just feeding into it.

You might find this link interesting & while I hate to drag the other wars into this, its worth saying the US (and allies) have killed many, many, many, many more civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan than the drug wars violence here has.... so its all perspective. But those stories seem to be glazed over in the US press.. getting a brief mention at most. Apples and oranges perhaps, but it is a "war" we have going on here between the Mexican government and the drug gangs. A war encouraged and funded by the US.

[Life_N_Cancun]

Originally Posted by ToriB

The original poster was questioning their safety in Cancun...then it went on to airports...Nobody is saying that Mexico is safe and it seems like we have carried over this crazy topic from the thread in the Living In forum.

I have a way of doing that

[GONZO]

Originally Posted by ToriB

I am pissed that the US media has a way of making Mexico out to be the devil.

I guess I must be seeing another news channel. Although 2 of the stations I do watch had that story. But they didnt say devil. If your watching CNN or FOX, well than your not watching unbiased news, more like watching TMZ.


Steve I do understand its not in Cancun and thats why I stated I have always felt safe in Cancun and I dont usually stay at the HZ and just love being Downtown and getting away from the tourist areas. Hell I dont even speak spanish and have never felt unsafe in any of my off the beaten track travels in Cancun. I just dont get what the problem is with our media is all.

[jjrichardson]

Well, I think my question has been answered. Thank you.

[Life_N_Cancun]

Yes, you'll be fine, sorry for leading the topic astray. Some of us are just tired of the constant badmouthing Mexico gets as you can probably tell

Enjoy your trip.

[army21]

Everyone going to Mexico (Cancun) you'll be fine!!! Only thing you got to worry about is getting alcohol poison!

[alwayshavinfun]

A couple of my buddies were beat up and robbed on separate occasions, but we were so drunk and got laid so many times we didn't care. Have a great time.